Targeted: Sachi Urami vs. Tennaito
Target Sighted Heavy and gray clouds rolled into the sky, illuminating a loud clap of thunder every single minute. The sounds of raindrops hit the ground like miniature mortars unto tainted soil. Flashes of lighting danced across the sea of gray and black. If one looked up, he would say that it would be the song of Hell, reaching Earth's decrepit ears. However, even through the sounds of nature wreaking havoc upon the landscape, they could not be heard over the sounds of slaughter. ZSSSH! ZZZCRAAAAKKK! "AAAAAAGH!" Red fluid covered dirt, as another body fell to the ground. A sword clattered to the ground, broken and lost in its useless prime. All around that body were several others, a pool of the same crimson illuminating them. Both of them seemed to be the ground that a pair of feet seemed to walk on. Along with the figure that was walking was another victim, trembling as sweat fell down his face. With a yell that seemed full of both fear and anger, he tried to charge the figure that was walking slowly towards him. However, her sword was much faster, and with three slices, both the victim's hands and his sword fell to the ground. Screaming in pain, he fell back into the water with a heavy splash, tainting it with his blood. The figure sheathed her sword, staring emotionlessly at his sinking body. One of the bodies stirred from his motionless sleep, barely moving his arms to get up. He was covered in blood, enough to make his clothing look like it had been dyed red, but he somehow was still alive. The surroundings of the two made it look like a zombie was getting up, never to be vanquished. The man got to his hands and knees, his long hair covering the entirety of his face, a curtain of blackness in the gray air. He was breathing deeply and scratchily, like rocks being rubbed on metal or two rusty swords scraping together in battle. Sachi stared in slight disbelief, as she watched the figure slowly get up. THe sounds of his breathing seemed to eat at her ears, and she slightly winced at the pain. She held her sword downward, the rain washing the blood away from her face. Her disbelief faded immediately, back into an emotionless one. But the man fell dead. He had just used all of his strength to make those last few movements, the remainders of his life that had been shattered by the woman in front of him. He lay there, completely still, and no longer breathing that awful breath he had. It seemed like his curse to his killer that he had to give some pain to, his parting gift. But the silence in the midst of the storm was abnormal. Strange. Frightening. Suddenly, The blond soaked in blood felt a presence that scared her, like the force of all of the death she just caused had manifested behind her. Which it did. But she heard that noise again, the breathing. It was coming from the tall man- no, being behind her. She was afraid to turn around. She soon found her breaths becoming slightly heavier, her own sweat mizing with the rain that pelted her. "What the hell....?" She thought, tightening her grip around her sword. Her tenseness increased as she witnessed a very rare occaision. The figure spoke. His voice was worse than his breathing, heavier and stronger, and possibly even more frightening. "Twelve...Dead...You....Guilty..." These words were a death sentence, that's what they registered as. But he didn't stop, "You...Shall...Suffer...Twelve...Deaths..." Sachi's eyes narrowed, before she quickly pivoted, turning around. In an instant, the side of her face was inches from touching his. Her sword was poised and pointed at his throat, as she stared him in the eye. She was trembling invisibly, as a flash of lightning illuminated what was soon to be their battleground. "Who are you?" She asked softly. There was silence before another bolt of lightning illuminated the mask of the tall beast, a beacon of bright orange in the dark of the storm. He spoke again, slowly and with purpose: "I...Bring...Justice" And with movements faster than the lightning that clashed around them, the creature clamped the tip of the blade between his chin and his collar bone, twisting suddenly, creating a horrible sound of snapping metal, signifying the loss of the tip of the woman's blade. He moved forward, bring his fist up into the gut of the blond's body, thrusting her with such force that the tree she smashed into splintered under he weight. He was upon her again, holding two used spear ends against her neck in an X-formation, some blood dripping out of her mouth onto the blades. Quickly and surely enough, another knife was being thrust at the place he punched, about to deliver the First Death. Sachi grabbed her attackers wrist, before the knife could rip apart her stomach. She stared intensely into his eyes, before using her other hand to grab the two spears at her neck. She pushed herself forward, letting the blades cut into her hands slightly as she forced him back, following with an upward kick that smashed into his chin. Tennaito was caught off-guard with the power of the attack, and through the wetness of the rain, Sachi could see a dash of blood on his mask where he was hit. But this observation became completely useless when he picked up one of the bodies she had made and threw the man at her, full force with one hand, roaring with anger that she, of all people, assault the judge! Sachi quickly sidestepped, the body slamming into a tree with a loud crunch. She only glanced at it for a split second, before looking back at Tennaito. The hilt of Divinity was still in her hand. She pointed it upward, slightly from her face. "Ascend to Nirvana....Shinsei." She whispered. The fallen piece of the blade levitated, flying towards the other piece and fixing itself onto it. The crack immediately closed up, and her blade was whole once again. "If it takes you twelve deaths to beat me.... then it'll take only one to slash your throat." She said, a coldness lacing her tone. Her words didn't seem to register as The beast shoved his hands inside his large overcoat, adding to the effect that the thunderclaps had by throwing two large kamas at his opponent, hiding their presence in the sudden darkness provided by the cloud cover and lack of visibility from the rain. On instinct, as she saw his figure make the hard-to-see throwing motions, she side-jumped away, feeling the objects whizz by her. She settled into a defensive stance, peering through the rain to observe her opponent once again. There was another thunderclap, and there was the distinct sound of a tree being snapped in half, falling on top of Sachi before she could realize what was happening. Behind the felled tree appeared Tennaito, with one hand slightly damaged from punching through the tree hard enough to cause it to fall, which was hard enough to do with a real blade. He walked over to where Sachi had been standing and pulled her out of the debris, holding her up by her neck. He reached for yet another blade from his coat, a sai this time, and was about to attempt another death blow when Sachi's eyes snapped open. Then, a sudden sickening sound rattled throughout both of their ears. Blood splashed onto the floor, being washed away by the rain. But for a moment, the sound of thunder had stopped abruptly, as if a higher being was watching their fight. Then, another slow and even sicker sound came, as Sachi slowly pulled out Divinity from her attacker's chest. The sudden strike forced him to let go, allowing her to breathe more easier, albeit still heavy. Without hesitation, she raised her sword in the air and swung it down, aiming straight for his head. The sound came again, that of a knife being welcomed into the flesh of a dead animal, cutting through it with ease. The sword had cut into the beast, like the order of hunting should be. But he would not die. The creature had moved his head to the right at the last second, causing the sword to dive into the muscle and sinew of his shoulder, stopping at the bone. The creature roared , the sound likened to the entirety of all of nature's animals and beasts combined, louder than the thunder and seemingly brighter than the lighting surrounding their deadly playing field. The beast would not die. He had a mission to complete, and he would never stop. Never. He moved forward, using his opponent's lack of mobility to his advantage, while bringing the deadly accurate weapon in his hand to stab for Sachi's stomach, but missed and went through her side, piercing it completely. The beast struggled to breathe, bringing in scraping heaps of air with every heave he could muster, using the adrenaline to boost his endurance. He needed to kill this sinner. Now. Sachi gasped shortly, the pain shot through her stomach, and the hoarse sounds of the creature's breathing filled her ears. She gripped the blade that pierced her, slowly pulling it out of her side, but coughing up blood slightly as she did so. She pulled it upwards, her own blade in her other hand. The mere aura this man was giving off was fueling her adrenaline, making her blood race. What was he? What is This Thing?! The heightened form of battle was getting to the beast. The aura around him was indeed intense, infuriated, angry. He was about to explode. The hate was almost tangible, like water or vapor in the air, surrounding him. It was the definition of wrath. But this soon took on a literal translation as the blade in his shoulder was expelled from his body, sending it flying out of Sachi's grip. There seemed to be demonic flames, shaped like chains swirling around his body, dancing like they were men on beds of hot coals on his body. They nearly touched him, but never did, apparently even they were afraid, and they were his own power. Reared his head back, and let out his roar again, this time combined with and earsplitting scream, as if thousands of souls had been devoured by him and they were all sending their voices out of his own at the same time. The sound made leaves turn brown and dead, even the corpses littering the ground began to decay far more quickly than natural. It was literally a living hell. He looked back down at his opponent, and the flames that danced around his body with joy and fear congragated at his chest wound, licking the blood dry and the wound clean, until it was no more. He proceeded to charge at Sachi with unprecedented speed, firing punch after punch at her, nearly engulfing both of them with crimson-black flame. Sachi's pupils seemed to shrink, as she raised her sword to block his fierce attacks. They came with fearful and immense force, sending her digging her feet into the ground. Every single blow seemed to emit a large amount of killer intent, and she could feel his hatred radiating off of him. Finally, she managed to stand her ground, her sword pushing against the animalistic monster in a deadlock. Then, a smirk crawled up her face, as she whispered, "Shiroi Getsuga." Immediately, a burst of spiritual energy erupted from the blade, smashing into her opponent with incredible force. The aftermath of the blast seemed to envelop the both of them in a blaze of light, wreaking even more havoc to the desacrate area. The light soon faded. But this was not due to the completion of the attack, but it was because The monster had opened his mouth, sucking in the attack as if it was just nourishment for his own needs. This was not true, as he immediately repositioned himself to fire it back with the combined force of his own power and Sachi's attack, forming a large dome of blackish power, resembling flames. It soon cleared, and the two were standing, both with various damage, ranging from rips in her clothing to small gashes on her flesh for the woman to rips and tears on the man, with the old wounds reopened. They were both breathing very heavily, and Tennaito had smoke rising from his mouth like it was a furnace from hell. This certainly was not a human. Sachi had her mouth closed, sucking in air through her teeth as the pain of her side wound, along with her new wounds bit at her. Although clearly not fatal, it served as a hinderance to her person. She would not be continuing this fight for very long, and this.... beast.... seemed to be wearing down....yet. She had to finish this quickly. Taking a deep breath, she pointed her sword upwards the blackened skies, and stared directly into his. Divinity pulsed once, before glowing a fierce white. She waited for only a quick moment, and then said one word: "Ban...kai." There was a second of silence, before a violent amount of spiritual energy began to emit from her person, pushing back Tennaito and throwing the corpses in various directions like they were nothing but light rocks. Release The beast staggered back as the full force of Sachi's Bankai hit him. Interested. Excited. That's what was portrayed through his mask. He hesitated, unsure what to do. But he suddenly felt a pain in his head, enough to make him yell, scream in agony, like something was bursting through his near indestructible skull. And there was. Things were growing out of his head, slithering through his dirty hair, jutting out at a point. The beast had shown its horns. The horns seemed to grow in him and intense energy, unlike the anger or hatred he showed earlier, this generated excitement... adrenaline. Ecstasy. He completely ignored his pain, his wounds, like they weren't even there. The bankai's pressure didn't even phase him now, he was too hyped up. This was truly battle. So, he proceeded to flash away, unseen, behind Sachi, clasping his hands together and bringing them down with all the force he could muster, causing a distinct cracking sound showing that he most likely just gave his opponent a concussion. He then kicked her into a tree a distance away, smashing her into it with a sickening crunch, causing her to look like a ragdoll that had been abused by a particularly evil young boy. He walked over to her form on the ground, looming over her with thunder cracking behind him, accenting his tall, large, dangerous outline against the dark, coal colored sky, the rain pouring down now, like he and nature were synchronized, both ecstatic with the excitement of battle. Sachi shut her eyes, but couldn't stop the crimson from leaking out. Her mind had seemingly went blank, as she breathed in heavily, almost helpless to stop him. The least she could do was struggle to stand up on her own two feet, vision swirling viciously and slow to recover. Her shoulders heaved up and down, as the rain pelted the spot where she had been so ruthlessly hit. Just from that one blow alone, it seemed like her chances of winning had dissipated. Doubt covered her mind, and she struggled to fight against it, as she brung her sword downards, slamming it into the ground. Then, she opened her eyes staring into his. "Amatsu Aura." Immediately, the sword began to emit a massive amount of spiritual energy, surrounding them in a large, cell-like chamber. As the walls completely emerged, a tendril of energy shot out and hit Sachi in her afflicted area, sealing the cracks and the wound to keep it from bleeding continuously. Then, she jumped back a few feet, staring at her opponent. "Before we continue..." She said softly, staring at him. "What is your name, if I may ask?" The creature was silent. Inside his mind, human thoughts were racing. Name...name...I had one... Outside his mind, he said "My...Name...is..." In the realm of thoughts, he pondered what his name was. He swore he had a name, but what was it? How had he forgotten it? Why? He looked around at his surroundings. It was black. He was the bringer of jutsice. Holy. Black. Night.... "My Name...'Halloween'..." he said, gruffly, as if he was confused, but slightly sure. Sachi closed her eyes, as the sounds of whispering came to her ears. It seemed to soothe her raging body, softing the rivers running through her person. Her glare softened slightly, as though she was sensing a more.... noble.... side, to this creature. A small smile etched itself on her face. "Very well....Halloween." She said softly. "My name is Sachi. That's all you need to know. Remember that name, as the one who defeated you on this day." What?! Defeat? No! He will not be defeated, not now! He will never die, never rest until all who deserve will die! He has a mission! He will bring death to sinners! All human thought in Tennaito's head was pushed out by hatred, and anger, a will to live. He would not accept defeat, adn he will never lose! He charged up his most powerful move, his horns angling downwards to create a cross-hairs like array for a small light charging in his open mouth, resonating dark crimson yet being brighter than a small sun. "He's at his peak..." She observed, watching slowly. "It's going to be more powerful than anything he's used so far...time to settle this." Almost as if on cue, the spiritual walls immediately swarmed towards her, wrapping around her and changing form. It grew wings on her back, a body that covered hers, and it formed a "beak" around her blade. It was as if she was an angel about to fly. "Come." She whispered. The light in Halloween's mouth grew exponentially, forming a shpere between his horns and charging even more and growing larger. Suddenly, it was the size of a large basket ball, crimson with a black core, generating a sound like millions of screaming souls. He bent forward, shoving his all into the blast, and it was released towards the woman, and a hellish body of voices called, Retribution Cannon! Sachi frowned slightly, as she watched the blast come. She balanced the blade on her shoulder, eyeing the blast. As it came closer and closer, ripping through the ground, her mind flashed back to familiar memories. Her first meeting with Seireitou. Her betrayal out of self-loathing. His near-death by Kyashi's hands. Her own near-death by protecting Seireitou. Back then, she had felt so useless and weak....even with all of her own skills. She needed to seemingly be protected all of the time, as like a damsel in distress. She always was fighting to protect someone else. But this time, she wouldn't have to protect anyone. She would only fight to win. She raised the blade up, slamming it down on the ground and unleashing that built-up energy within her in the form of a destructive fissure. It collided with his own, the two pushing against one another as they seemingly got bigger and bigger, ripping straight through the ground. A column of light and dark shot into into the air, clearly visible to the human eye. A spectacle even Mother Nature herself would marvel at. Aftermath The forest had been cleared away, like snad under a hurricane's force. Trees were completely ripped up and thrown far away, the dirt smelled burnt, and there where large chunks of hard earht strewn everywhere. IN the center of all of this, there was a crater, with two small ruts leading from it. One ended with the taller figure, lying on the destroyed masses, not moving. Not breathing. Seemingly dead. Then, as if he was being moved by some godly hand, he rose. He staggered towards the other fighter, his left arm broken once again, already weakened by a fight with another ninja. He stumbled up the other side of the crater, losing his footing once. He fell. But even this did not stop him. He had a mission. Kill. Kill all sinners. He came to the body of the woman... However, that same body struggled to push herself up on her feet. A shocked thought came to her, as she felt her Bankai dissipate, against her own will. A sinking feeling came in her gut. Was she reaching the end of her life? She staggered to her feet, feeling the gashes on her body leak blood. She breathed like a fish out of water, her shoulders heaving up and down as she tried to gather air to her deprived lungs. Her blade touched the blood-covered ground. Once she had seen the look on that man's face, she knew that if she gave up, she would die. She couldn't have that. Shutting her eyes, she lunged forward, sword in both hands. Every muscle in her body ws aching violently, but she paid no heed. She had to kill this man, or he would surely kill her. It only took a few steps for her to thrust the sword blade straight into his shoulder. Time stopped. For a moment, it looked as if she had pierced him. But instead, the sword, after a moment, shattered like fragile glass. She was left with only the hilt in her blood-stained hands. Then, she fell to the ground on her stomach with a heavy thud, lying at his feet. "I....I can't....move...." She thought weakly, closing her eyes and residing to her soon-to-be fate. Tennaito, merciless to the very end of this woman's life, raised his hand above his head, pointing his fingers into a flat shape, a spear of death. He moved deliberately and flawlessly, even with the extreme pain and blood loss. He was about to peirce the flesh of this opponent. Three feet. Two feet. One foot. Six inches. Two. One. Suddenly, Tennaito's hand was grasped by the hand of an older man, who had flashed inbetween him and Sachi. "Sachi-chan, are you okay....?" asked the man. At the sound of his dimmed voice, Sachi's weakened eyes shot open. Though she could barely see through the crimson vision, she turned her head to the side, faintly recognizing the familiar voice. "S....Seireitou...." She whispered hoarsely. Tennaito was furious. So close. Almost there... He roared, turning Seireitou's attention towards him, while pushing with everything he had towards killing his opponent. When that happened, he would kill this man too. "Watch out..." Sachi's voice rang in Seireitou's ears, as a warning. Then, she shut her eyes, as a wave of pain washed over her. How she was still retaining consciousness, she hardly knew, nor did she care. The only thing she could do now was pray for Seireitou's safety from this animalistic being. Seireitou ignored Sachi's worry and faced down Tennaito, "Why are you trying to kill Sachi-chan?" he asked. The strain Tennaito was giving off was much more than he should've been able to. Without looking up from trying to thrust his hand through Sachi's body, he spoke: "Sinners...Must...Suffer..." Seireitou Steps In "Really now? Then i guess you must die then. So... If you stay here, I'll have no choice but to kill you. Get out of here." stated Seireitou, looking down on Tennaito. These words didn't even reach Tennaito's inhuman ears, as he immediately burst into a rage that generated more energy coming from who-knows-where. This extra boost caused him to struggle against Seireitou's strength more effectively, pushing towards Sachi's back, millimeter by millimeter, unitl he touched the back of her shirt and kept going, just barely geting under her skin at this point, causing her to wake up. Yes. He was going to win. He will not lose. He will not die. He shall deliver judgement. Sachi felt the tip of the cold weapon press against her back. She could only clench her teeth in pain, as she felt the seemingly imminent declaration of judgement upon her soul. She didn't even have the strength to fight back. "Have you gone insane?" asked Seireitou, who flashed away with Sachi before her imminent death. "Sachi-chan, please stay, back ok?" he asked, touching her cheek and then stood up, turning around. He stared down Tennaito. Sachi could only breathe heavily, as she leaned against the trunk of a tree which Seireitou had laid her on. Clearly, Seireitou had the advantage here. If he wasn't close to death, he was at least severely injured by her own attacks. At least, that's what she hoped. She attempted to sit up, only for some of her wounds to open back up again, spilling her blood around her. She let out a pained moan as she fell back against the tree trunk. "Guess I'm not going anywhere...." She thought, a small smile on her face. This was fairly difficult, as Tennaito was at least a head taller than he was. The beast had risen from his crouching position, and looked ready to kill Sei from where he stood. But he had run out of energy. That was why he used the spear finger strike when he did. He couldn't fight anymore. But he would not admit it, he would never give up. All he had to do was kill this intruder now and get this over with. Then continue on with his mission. He quickly and skillfully reached into the confines of his coat and threw dozens of shuriken at blinding speed towards his sliver-haired opponent, throwing in his other sai in the middle of the squall of metal and blades, aiming for Seireitou's heart. If this blow hit correctly, he would be dead, no matter what happened. Seireitou blocked the metal and blades with his own sword. "You and I...our levels are as distant as the earth from the heavens. ...Must I spell it out for you? You cannot win." he stated as he swung his blade by its chained hilt with his finger. These words remained useless as Tennaito appeared directly in front of Seireitou, bearing down on him with a shadow even in the rain. He opened his mouth and roared, with such force that he did not need any energy, just the sound of it. The shock was so large that it threw Seirieotu against a still standing tree, next to Sachi. The beast was over Sachi before she could react. He had another knife in his hand, poised at his side, going for death. He silently dealt a blow. This was it, he was going to kill the sinner, finally. He will not be stopped now, the gray haired man was out of the way. He swung. Seireitou flashed ahead of Tennaito, blocking his blade, "Idiot. You must know nothing of Xiaochu...." he stated, pushing Tennaito back, away from Sachi. "I told you before, not to lay a hand on her." Tennaito was confused. How did this happen? He was the bringer of justice. No one stood up to him. He could not be stopped. The unsure expression he now produced was not passed on through his mask, but his hesitation showed it. He became desperate, started breathing heavily. His hand shook. Not knowing what to do if he could not bring death to this one who was so close to it. He felt powerless. But he remembered the deaths of those men. Others. His...Family... He decided to make one last effort. This one would be it, if he did not cause anymore damage then he had failed. He feinted to the left, causing Seireitou to do the same, and while he did so he used his heightened reflexes to throw the knife at Sachi, stabbing into the tree but going into her arm on the side. He jumped far back to see what happened. He looked to see that only an afterimage of Sachi stayed there as the real Sachi was in Sei's arms. "I told you to leave her out of it. Put away your sword and you shall live... unless you're still dreaming about defeating me." he stated as he sheathed his blade and pointed at Tennaito, and said, "Aoshan.". A dense red energy beam attacked Tennaito with supreme force. The beam cleared away, showing Tennaito's body. He was still standing, amazingly, with a gaping hole in his shirt and a blast mark on his chest, singed red and crimson from breaching his skin and burning the blood dry and the wounds closed. He tried to move, but the wounds reopened, seeping blood onto the ground. He staggered towards Seireitou, who was still holding Sachi. He came within swords distance of the silver-haired man, and spoke weakly with that voice he had that grated on Sachi's ears, holding pain in their words: "I...kill...for justice...She...will die...and you...cannot...stop...it..." said the figure as he slowly reached for his wound, dipped his two front fingers in his blood and tried to reach towards Seireitou's chest, but his arm gave out and he inadvertently marked Sachi on the collar bone. And, he gave the most intense stare through the absolute darkness of his mask, piercing even Seireitou's soul. And he was gone. Sachi looked on in disbelief and fear, as she looked down at her collar bone. "....What the hell?...." She could only mutter, lifting up one arm to grasp her neck slightly. "What did he do?" Seireitou was silent and chuckled scornfully, "As if i havent been through worse darkness. That was pitiful." he said as he looked at Sachi, "Are you alright, Sachi-chan?" he asked softly. At first, Sachi was silent. But then, she looked downwards, grasping Seireitou's neck area with both hands. "...Yeah....I'll live...I hope." She muttered, her voice still hoarse and forced to a whisper. Her bangs fell over her eyes, making it difficult to see the wavering in them. Seireitou gently moved her bangs out of her eyes and stared in her deep eyes. "Dont worry. As long as Im around, no-one will hurt you." Sachi narrowed her eyes, suddenly finding herself losing her vision. Everything seemed to appear in double, as she looked at Seireitou's eyes. She could feel herself slipping into that same dark place in her mind where she had dreaded so much. But she didn't let that dread show. She was too stubborn. She moved her mouth to show a weak smile. "Hmph....arrogant....man...." She muttered, before she felt her head drop against Seireitou's chest, finally losing consciousness. In front of the two was a man with black hair, put into a pony tail. He was tall, wore a jacket that looked very well made, and had a strap of kunai as a belt. But, he had a shimmering outline, looking as if a mirage. He spoke in a calm, soft, warm voice, "Who are you, silver haired warrior?" Seireitou stared at the man, "The name's Seireitou... But that's not important right now. Right now, we need to heal Sachi-chan." The man looked down at the woman in Seireitou's arms. His eyes widened in alarm, "Seireitou, we cannot possibly heal her..." he said as he knelt down to get a closer look at the blond. He pulled away the neck of her shirt to reveal the mark Tennaito had left. Seireitou sighed, "Stand back." he said, placing one palm over the over and closed his eyes. "Tenshu Itami!" he yelled, as a pillar of gold light surrounded both Seireitou and Sachi. Around Tennaito's mark on Sachi's neck, gold glitter began to surround it. But the mark did not disappear. This put the man on an uneasy position, for he knew what it meant. "Seireitou-san, that mark cannot be healed... it is a blood curse..." he said, a look of dismay on his face for the woman. "You have no idea what that mark can do... She must get away from anybody she has a bond with..." Seireitou chuckled and ignored the man's words as he continued to add more chakra into the mark. He sighed, "I have a plan. Im not sure if it'll work but...." he said as he moved his hands to Sachi's head. Is he...? He is! the man watched Seireitou as he removed the feelings she had towards Seireitou, thus removing the pain she was experiencing. "Seireitou-san...I had no idea you had this power!" he said, as Sachi began to stir from her unconciousness. A groan came from the blonde Shinigami, as she slowly opened her eyes. "What in the hell....?" "Wow, she actually woke up..." said the man. He proceeded to rise from his cruching position, and walked a few feet away, examining the battle scene. Seireitou smiled, but then quickly went into a depressive state. He knew that until Tennaito was destroyed, Sachi would no longer harber her feelings for Seireitou, which in turn, protected her from Tennaito's mark. As she woke up, Seireitou went over to the man, "By the way, I dont believe I caught your name, what is it, if i may ask?" he asked, staring at the man. The Stranger The man turned from his spot as he observed the destruction. "Tennaito." He said his name with a mix of sadness and sureness, like he didn't like to say it. Seireitou stared at the man with surprise, shock, and yet, for some unknown reason, a sense of understanding. "Tennaito...? But.... the being who fought Sachi-chan.... Was also Tennaito?" he asked The man stared back at Seireitou. "Yes...He and I are Tennaito. We are the ones who make up the person named ______." At this sudden blankness, the man looked up. "Geez, still can't say it, can I? Oh well. Anyway, I am Tennaito, in a sense. And so is he. You might be able to know what having your spirit lifted from your body is like?" he asked. "Uh.... Sure..." he stated as he looked down, for he exactly knew that feeling. Seireitou looked back to the man, "So tell me, why is Tennaito, I mean, the other one, like that. And why in the world does he look like Micheal Jackson?" he asked The Tennaito in front of Seireitou had to laugh at this. "Hehe...He is the negative side of my host. Thirteen years ago, when we were twelve, I believe, our family was killed. Brutally. And our sister was raped, then murdered. We blew up our own home in an attempt to claim revenge, and we would die also, for we were afraid of life without our family. But, we were...lucky, I suppose. We survived the blast... but, only barely. We saw the criminals injured, and I blacked out. I saw him... rip off the head of one, and spear the other's forehead on his hand. I was sickened, wondering if that was really me, but it wasn't." he said, then pausing, to take a look at the battle field. His brother had done a lot of damage, and he needed to reverse it. He continued, "I was ousted from our body, for my borther, the negative side, had taken over. He was filled with anger, sadness, and murderous intent. He believes that if he kills every criminal in the world, our situation will never repeat itself, and as you can see, this is the result. He has given up on all human things, no more food, no more drink, no more communication, and he wanders the world. Does that answer anything, Seireitou-san?" Sachi merely remained silent, although her eyes held sympathy. Seireitou's arms seemed to be slightly colder, even though he himself was warm. "Tennaito...." She muttered, knowing of that feeling herself. The good Tennaito in front of them noticed Sachi's sympathy. "Yes, I can see you understand fully what this is like. I am following his trail so as to regain our body, and restore us back to full strength. Then we can do some good, instead of constant killing," he said solemnly. Seireitou looked down and sighed, "No matter what you do, you can never wipe the blood that is on your hands.... never." he stated, staring at his own hand. "I personally......know that feeling." "So have I." Sachi spoke, her voice having regained his calm nature. "Too many times...." She eyed the body of a corpse that lay nearby, having been shattered by the three's display of power. "Yes, that will take time..." said Tennaito. "But, right now, I must focus on regaining my body," he said, turning back to observe. He spoke up suddenly, "Miss Urami, what abilities do you remember my brother having control of?" Sachi looked down slightly. "Throwing weaponry, hand-to-hand.... even his own killing intent seemed to be put to effective use." She said. "He was able to simple break my sword with his own neck...and he was extremely fast. I could barely keep up." Tennaito put on a thoughtfully worried face. "That hardened skin wasn't there last time...he is growing faster, with more power every fight. I need to stop him before he gets..." he looked at Seireitou "...To be a threat to even you..." Seireitou laughed at this remark. "No, im sure he couldnt beat me or Hikaru. Really, none of the Yonkou would fall to Tennaito. Im only worried about if say, Ryuka or Kyashi were to fight him. For myself, i can take him no sweat." he said, with a grin. Tennaito smiled a small smile, and he replied "Yes, I would suppose so...But, a vine that doesn't stop growing will become a big problem in little time. We must stop him soon," he said, keeping the mood solemn. He then realized something, "Would you like to help me find him and assist me in recovering my body?" Seireitou sighed, "I dunno...." he said staring at Sachi and remembering what occured between her and the evil Tennaito. He looked back to the good Tennaito, "Doesn't look like I have a choice, but I would like to ask for something in return." Tennaito's face turned intrigued at this. "Yes, what can I trade?" Seireitou hit his palm with his fist, "That I get to kick his ass a few times before you regain your body back, thats all." Tennaito laughed, "Haha, yes, you may fight as much as you like."